Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
architecture or federated identity management, outsourcing the planning
roles can be effective while internal personnel are being provided the nec-
essary training to understand a new solution's implications. During merg-
ers and acquisitions, for instance, an outside expert may be able to begin
the migration process while local IT resources are retrained into the par-
ent organization's architecture.
Outsourcing the developing of a strategic guide or blueprint may
provide a means to save time within limited internal enterprise architect
resources, or when internal political issues provide the need for an outside
viewpoint to settle on one solution as the common thread for develop-
ment of a strategic vision. Documentation of existing resources can also
be outsourced in order to save time and to reduce the impact of internal
business-unit politics on discovery and resource identification. Critical
functions such as enterprise architectural change or security may be out-
sourced in some cases, but responsibility for services, regulatory compli-
ance, and data protection ultimately remains with the organization.
One additional area that lends itself well to outsourcing is that of test-
ing and compliance review. Testing new technologies for a fit within the
enterprise architectural vision may be best performed by a third party in
order to ensure that findings ref lect technology interactions and not sim-
ply local preferences. Similarly, compliance audit and review should be
performed by a dedicated or external agency in order to ensure that inter-
nal bias or simple familiarity do not cause the review to overlook areas of
concern. Audit functions must not be conducted solely from within the
IT organization, as it is impossible to obtain a fair and thorough report
of variance when the individual reporting an issue is subordinate to the
functions or personnel being assessed.
Multiple Architects
Small to medium-size enterprise architecture can easily be coordinated
by a single chief architect, with additional supporting focused architects
added to cover capacity shortfalls as the enterprise scope expands. This
can produce an optimized architecture, capable of the most complete
synthesis of homogeneous network coordination with the greatest pos-
sible reduction in data and network complexity and cost. As enterprise
networks increase in size or span multiple business units with indepen-
dent purchasing capabilities, the load may be distributed across multiple
